Lyft Inc. isn't authorized to offer ride services in New York, the city's taxi regulator said just days before it plans to start service.

The service hasn't complied with safety requirements and licensing criteria, and the city's rules and laws will be enforced, the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission said in a Wednesday e-mail. Lyft said it still plans to start operations in the city Friday.

Lyft's debut would offer more competition to Uber Technologies Inc. in the booming market for new ways to move people and cars more efficiently through cities. By disrupting local taxi industries, car-booking and ride-service apps have prompted lawsuits in the U.S. and demonstrations in cities from London and Madrid to Berlin and Paris.

"Every rider deserves the safety and consumer protections our rules provide," Meera Joshi, chairwoman of the Taxi & Limousine Commission, said in the e-mail. "We're still hopeful that Lyft will accept our offer to help them do the right thing for New York City passengers."

The commission's licensing and base station rules don't apply to Lyft's business, Erin Simpson, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco company, said in an e-mail.

"It's important to clarify that our differences of opinion are not about safety standards, and that's because we put safety first," she said. "We will never waver in keeping our drivers and passengers safe."

Adding to Lyft's challenges, the New York state Department of Financial Services issued a cease-and-desist letter this week, saying that the company is violating the state's laws, including selling insurance directly to New York drivers and requiring them to buy from a specific insurer in order to join Lyft's program. Benjamin Lawsky, the superintendent of the department, said in the letter that it is willing to work with Lyft to determine how the company can operate legally in the state.

Simpson said the company is having productive conversations with the Department of Financial Services, and thinks it can resolve all the issues raised in the letter.

Lyft rival Uber has been operating in New York since 2011, and this week reached an agreement with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to limit its peak-pricing tactics and cap fees during emergencies.

While UberX competes directly with Lyft in other cities, UberX drivers in New York have official taxi licenses.

Uber says it plans to begin that service if the regulations are eased.

Uber temporarily cut the price of its UberX service by 20 percent in New York this week, striving to become cheaper than taxis as Lyft enters the car-service market.